Virginia lawmakers are currently working to ensure that local school districts do not face a shortfall in state funding. WMRA's Randi B. Hagi reports.
Two Fridays ago, superintendents across the Commonwealth were informed that there was a mistake in the calculation tool that local school districts had used to determine how much funding to expect from the state. As the Virginia Mercury reported, the budget flaw would have given public schools $201 million less than previous projections for the current and upcoming fiscal year.
MICHAEL RICHARDS: We make hiring decisions, curricular decisions, technology purchase decisions, and so forth based on state budgeting.
Michael Richards, superintendent of Harrisonburg City Public Schools, said his district stood to lose nearly $1 million over the two fiscal years. He spoke with State Senator Mark Obenshain and Delegate Tony Wilt about the issue.
RICHARDS: … and so both of them were very concerned, … and the very next day, Delegate Wilt's office emailed me saying that the appropriations committee in the House is addressing this, and we should not worry about losing this funding. That was, of course, very encouraging.
A staff member in Wilt's office told WMRA in an email that, [quote] "through the budget process, the General Assembly will ensure no school division sees any cuts – less funding than they had anticipated or been told – for the current fiscal year or next." [end quote]
The staffer wrote that there is a considerable amount of new sales tax money for schools in the budget amendments submitted by Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
